phin
only festered as the hours ticked by. At exactly eight o'clock, I stood bef
th, I knocked and p
eld sofa, a roaring fireplace, and walls lined with towering bookshelves. The air was thick, saturated with Damie
e, the flickering flames casting ha
commande
sture rigid. I needed to maintain the boundary of our
row for the Gala," Damien stated, not bothe
uickly, my fingers twisting the hem of my shirt. "You don't even know
eyes locking onto mine. A dark, unsettl
ravelly timber. His gaze drifted downward, tracing the lines of my body with a terr
sessiveness in his tone felt far too heavy for a simple
the subtle, crushing weight of his Alpha's Command bleeding int
d of autonomy I had left, I swallowed my pride. "Fine. But I wan
ened fraction
ied in, leaving a silver cart of covered dinn
posite end of the sofa, the atm
lethal as he stared at the fire. "She prides herself on her pureblood status. To t
htening in my chest.
n seeing each other for weeks," he ordered smoothly. "Se
for a few hours. "So, I'm supposed to just admit we're sleeping tog
will look at me like I am the center of your universe, and you w
ish. Pretending to share a bed with the most powerful Alpha in the region w
nding, Seraphina?" he p
whispered, my voice trembling. I had agreed to play a ga
re coiled tight, radiating a sudden, restless energy. Without another word, he walked over to the well-sto
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